Old Lapsteel Build

DulcetJones

I just dug this out of a back closet, made it out of a 2 x 6 piece of fir back in 1985.  I had a 3 legged stand for it too but I can't find that now, used it on stage for a few songs.  The pick up is out of a Fender Tele a bandmate gave me when he hotrodded his Tele.  I used it on David Linleys "Mercury Blues" and a couple of George Thorogood  songs.  Amazing what you can do with a power drill and a skill saw.

ESchap

Fantastic!  Looks like a genuine relic from the 40's or 50's. 

What gauge of strings do you use on it?  Tunings?

DulcetJones

It's got a set of 11's and being not all that up on slide I tuned it to an open E major so I could play chords and do simple solos on the 2 bottom strings and still know where I was.  When I had it on the stand onstage I could just let go of my solid body and pick up the bar and play a few licks and then go back to the solid body with ease.  It actually still has the first set of strings that I put on it!  Being that it isn't subjecting them to fret wear they last longer and are most likely D'Addario XL's.  The "fret" lines and diamond markers are drawn on with a sharpee and both bridges are just basic angle hardware.  I did carefully measure and calibrate the fret markers with a tuner and a pencil before I got the sharpee out.

[Deleted User]

Wow that takes me back! I used to play in a band with someone who was a massive David Lindley fan (Mercury Blues was part of our set). He had an old Fender lap steel. Unlike David, his intonation wasn't always great (though he was a lovely bloke) but played well, those things sound great.

DulcetJones

I saw David Lindley in a bar in Victoria BC in the 80's and when he played Mercury Blues he just used one of the solid body guitars he had on stage with a bottle neck slide.  Most of them were old Danos and Silvertones, and he had about 20 of them.

[Deleted User]

DulcetJones;29744" said:

I saw David Lindley in a bar in Victoria BC in the 80's and when he played Mercury Blues he just used one of the solid body guitars he had on stage with a bottle neck slide.  Most of them were old Danos and Silvertones, and he had about 20 of them.

He's an exceptional player. Most of us obsess about minute details of our gear; someone like him would probably make anything sound good.

A friend of mine told me a story about (UK distributor) Dixie Kid. He was on the Gibson stand at a NAMM show many years ago. They had a live band playing a simple 12 bar and a brand new stock 335 plugged into a Lab Series (solid state) amp. Present were B B King, Larry Carlton and Robben Ford. The guitar was passed around and (in the appropriate hands) instantly sounded like B B, Larry and Robben. The tone was truly 'in the fingers'...

Basher

Keep meaning to get some more David Lindley. Have El-Rayo-X somewhere and it's really good. Any recommendations as to where to go next?

EDIT: Just been looking on Amazon and "Win This Record" sounds great from the clips, I am however deeply drawn to the album "Twango Bango Deluxe" based on the name alone. No clips but with a title like that, it has to be great. Possibly.